Do you weigh yourself every day?

The standard advice when you're dieting in NOT to weigh yourself every day. It can dampen spirits when you don't lose any weight day after day. Over my years of dieting and trying to lose weight I've learned that I do better when I weigh myself every day.

When I check my weight daily I get to see the fluctuations, I get to watch the effects of certain foods and how long they last, and I get to understand why my weight goes up (or down). I'm not suggesting that this would work for everyone but for me it works best.

This week is a prime example of why.

If I'd weighed myself last week, and then nothing until today I'd be rather down. I'd feel like the effort I've been putting in just wasn't worth it and I'd probably scoff a few donuts to make myself feel better. But that's not how I feel. Why? Because I weighed myself every day.



Last week I weighed 13st 2.2lbs, this week I weigh 13st 4.9lbs.

By the numbers I've gained 2.7lbs and that's depressing given that it took me almost two weeks to lose that much. 

Right now though it's that week, the week when I retain water. I'm bloated and feeling pretty rubbish, if I added to that the disappointment about my weight that would leave me feeling awful. But I'm not disappointed, I understand that this week my weight doesn't go down. I understand that this week I just need to be kind to myself. 

I took the boys to the Handmade Burger Co. at the weekend and enjoyed a tasty burger, and while it isn't going to help me lose weight you can't pass up a great burger can you? 

Some of the weight gain is attributed to that (obvs!) and I'm well aware that I can't eat fabulous meals every day. 

My point is that when I gained weight I knew why, I knew that it was partly my own fault and partly nature's fault. I can't control the fact that I'm a woman, every month for one week my weight goes up and there is absolutely nothing I can do about that. As long as the general trend is down I'm doing something right.

Weighing myself every day helps me understand more about my body and what influence food and exercise has on it. For example, I know that the benefits (or weight loss) of any exercise takes a few days to show up. I also know that when I eat bad food, like a great burger, it will take a few days before the full effects are seen. 

I have been able to learn a lot about certain foods and the kind of effect they'll have. This obviously helps when I'm planning our meals for the week. 

Today I've had salsa with parma ham and ryvita for lunch (the first time I've tried ryvita!) and it was lovely. It's also super healthy and we'll definitely be having it again. 

I won't deny myself a cheeky burger every now and then, but I will make up for it afterwards.

Fitness 4 Mamas

Sim's Life